Lost and Found
by JinxTheBadLuckGirl
Summary: Joey HAS to give Jenna her day of giving gift, even if it takes 6 years. I wrote the first chapter a while back, and it's must longer than what the normal chapters will be.
1. Chapter 1

He picked up the tattered rainbow lupe plushie. It's fabric was old, slowly tearing in various places along with the seams that help the thing stay together. It had patches of missing fur on it's tail, with was the only place it actually had fur. He turned it to look on it's belly. "Jenna." It was badly written down it's side with a purple marker. His long, starry ears lowered.

Jenna. Her dark red fur, her green, brown, and burgandy scarf. He remembered, oh yes he did, very clearly of his lost friend. His lost love.

Jenna.

When he was young, only in his childhood years, she'd yell across the alley way, "Joey! Stop messing around!"

And he'd retort, "What? I'm just looking!"

"Well Allie said to hurry up, so HURRY UP!"

"Whatever!" His paws shifted through the trash cans. Plenty of rotten greens and half eaten food for the group to eat for at least a week and a half. His group was large, but they were all children as well, so they wouldn't eat much. It was a bunch of abandoned neopets who escaped the pound before Trash Day, the day they cleaned out all the "unwanted" pets who'd been there for almost a year, and _destroyed _them. Allie was the ring leader, a strong and forceful green Ixi who took control the second we stepped foot on the soil again. She had been there time and time again, always getting caught in her sleep in the alleys. The pound people called her the Alley Ixi, but to us, she said her name was Allie.

When I was a new born, my parents did their best to feed everyone. They lived in a pack along with some old Lupes and Gelerts, and they were the leaders. I was treated as a prince in that pack, always getting first dibs on whatever trash heap they found. But as time went on, others complained to the pound about them. And after years of being free, they were caught and sealed away, only to be adopted and seperated from their friends and family. I know where my father is. Deep in the Haunted Woods, or that's what one of the group members told me because they were just a cell away from everyone who got adopted. I knew as a child I would see them again, and that I just had to hope.

I dug through the trash, while shaking off the snow gathering on my head. It was almost a week from the day of giving, and I HAD to get something for everyone. In my pile at home I had a few battered cards for a neodeck, 2 ripped plushies, and some stamps. It was the best I could do. I finally reached the bottom of the greasy can when my paw touched something fuzzy. I tried my best to pull it out without messing it up, and succeded. It was a rainbow lupe plushie. How? There isn't one of these in any shops. I looked for a tag, only to find one nonexistant. "It must be a handmade one!" I thought. This was perfect! Almost perfect condition too, only a few missing patches of fur on it's colorful tail. I knew exactly who to give it to.

"JOEY!" She roared in the alley way. "COME. ON!"

It was Allie, ready to leave. "Coming!" I hid the plushie in my shirt, afraid that she'd want it for her own. When we reached 'home', I stored it in my stash of gifts for the day of giving. She's gonna love it, I thought.

The group sat around the fire in a circle, telling jokes and warming any food we found today. I sat next to Silver, a fully white Acara. "So, what'd you find today?"

"Foodwise? A couple to rotten things, but I didn'thave time to get them. Allie made me leave before I could grab it."

"Guess what I got?" The Acara asked, with an added tone of enthusiasum.

"Hm?"

"A WHOLE COOKED CHICKEN!" He pulled it from behind him, and the group gasped and yelled that they wanted their share. Allie plucked it from his paws and started to give everyone an equal amount, until she reached me. She gave me the last bit, a leg, but I denied.

"No thanks."

"Excuse me?" She asked, dumbfounded.

"You skipped Jenna." I pointed to a red Gelert.

"So? She's lucky she's even in this group." Allie scoffed, giving Jenna a nasty look.

"But that doesn't mean she has to starve!" I raised my voice and stood up in front of Allie. She was taller than me, my nose barely reaching her neck.

"Alright, fine, give the worthless thing good food, whatever. Here." She threw the leg at me, hitting my forehead with it. But I caught it and walked over to Jenna, with all eyes on me. Whispers all around about how I stood up to the leader, and how unheard of it is. I stood in front of Jenna and handed her the leg.

"You didn't have to." She whispered while picking at the skin.

"I wanted to." I smiled warmly then returned to my seat. Eyes were still glancing at me, but I ignored them. After everyone was done eating, I went to my section of the old cave we resided in. I covered myself in the old blanket that hid the gifts, and closed my eyes. I thought of what I did, and what Jenna would say when I gave her the plushie. Then, finally, sleep took over and I rested.

"Come on, everybody! Up, up, up!" Rayme, the youngest out of the group, banged a pan infront of the cave. Rayme was Allie's favortie, so the little yellow Zafara got away with everything. "It's the Day of Giving! Get up!" She hit the pan over and over until each kid was out in the circle around the almost fire.

"Silver, Domenick, get some wood. Thomas, find the matches." Allie pointed to different pets, giving them orders until it was just me left. She watched everyone leave then walked over. "So, Joey, what gifts did you get everyone this year?"

"Well, I got a couple cards, some ripped toys, and stamps. It's all I could find this year." I didn't want to tell her about the rainbow lupe. She might want it for herself.

"Good. Start putting them in everyone's spot on the circle. I'll go and see if I can steal a ham or something." Allie started to run off to the city, probably to the deli.

I gathered the toys in my paws and started to set everything about. A Fire Paw card for Silver, an old Poogle plushie without a right arm to Avery... Then finally each spot had something except mine and Jenna's. I never got anything since the group is pretty greedy, but I never complain. I don't need any material items to call my own. But what to do with Jenna's? I'm sure if I put it in her spot, it'll get stolen by Allie or another pet. I glanced over to the cave and there it was. Her little tattered blanket on the right side of the area. I placed the plushie under it, so nobody would see but her. Once done, I turned to see Domenick carrying wood, dropping some, then struggled to pick it up. His view was scewed by the twigs and logs, so he never saw the gifts until he dropped them all in the middle of the circle.

"Woahhh." His red kougra paw touched his gift. "A ball! And it's barely chewed on! You must of had to take it from some brat." He started to throw it in the air and catch it repeatedly. "Thanks Joey!"

"No problem." I smiled at his gleaming face. The ball was actually stolen from a second hand shop, but he'll never know. We started to play catch until more pets started to emerge and thank me for the gifts. Finally, Allie came up with a ham that was missing a couple chunks. She started the fire and roasted the ham. "Uhh." I glanced to Allie. "Have you seen Jenna?"

She looked at me with digust. "Oh. No, actually. She's probably still trying to get better food for the group then I did. But that can never-" I started to worry after that last sentence, every other word didn't matter to me. Jenna? What if she was caught stealing? In the pound? Got hurt?

"I'm going to find her." I stood up and started to walk towards town.

"No you aren't! You're staying here before you get hurt!"

"What's your problem with her, Allie? She never did anything to you. You never even let her get a word in or let her eat! Why do you keep her here if you hate her so much?" They all looked at me with wide eyes and open mouths. She looked at me with bent eyes and bared teeth.

"If it wasn't for my father, she would be dead right now. I take care of her cause I HAVE to. Not cause I want to. My father's dying wish was that I take care of my niece, cause she's all I have. And who's my niece? Some stupid gelert that I wish was dead." She kicked at the spot Jenna sat on in the circle. "The family's dead cause of that girl." Allie looked at me. "That good enoughfor you, lover boy?"

I stared. "...Yeah. It is." I waved without looking back.

Four months had passed. I think. Time passed, lets just say. I carried a sack of mine and Jenna's belongings that I stole back after I left the group for my search for her. It wasn't going well whatsoever. Time and time again, I thought I saw her by the ratty old scarf or red fur, but it was always some other pet. On the nights it rained, I wish I never went. On the days it shined, I was motivated to find her. I checked our old alleyways that we found food, the one where we got captured and put into the pound. Sometimes I'd bump into a pet, only for them to say they missed me and they still haven't seen Jenna. I checked everywhere possible. And when I finally decided this town didn't have her, I went to another. And another. Until I landed in Brightvale and caught a glimpse of a book about Terror Mountain. Terror Moutain...

"Joey!" She ran to me with a picture in her hands. "See this?" Her red paw pointed to a badly illustrated snowy hill-ish...thing.

"Uh, yeah." I kept shifting through my trashcan.

"I wanna go there when I get older." She sat down and stared whistfully at the picture. "I wanna have a house on top of the mountain, full of everything I love. My plushies, my blanket, my family..." Jenna hugged the picture with a gleaming face. "Yeah. Everything."

"Heh. Any room for your favorite gelert?" I gave a sly smile, picking my head up out of the trash.

"Of course! It'll be our house. And we'll let everyone who needed shelter in, and give them warm food and not worry about anything in the world. Not the group or Allie or anybody. Just you, me, my family, and people who need help. We'll be set for life!"

"Tell you what. When I get a job and enough money saved, we'll get a house up there. And nobody is gonna tell us we can't. Right?"

"Right." -

I ran to the nearest train station and sold my belongings to pay for the ticket. The only thing I had to my name was the plushie. I turned it on it's belly. "'Scuze me, sir?" I asked the ticket master. "Do you have a marker?"

"Yeah kid, here." He tossed a purple marker my way. I started to write 'Jenna' neatly, but then I heard the whistle, so I finsihed quickly and gave the marker back to the ticket master.

"Thank you!" I waved back to him then hopped on. The train ride was entirely too long. I looked at the passengers, the kids with their mothers, the old couples with love still in their eyes. Then I closed my eyes and slept.

Turns out I slept for three hours until the business man next to me shook me awake. "Trains here. Time to go." I wiped the sleepyness out of my eyes and jumped off.

"AHH." The ground was icey cold, and it made my fur stood on end. An old lady handed me her shawl and I took it without question. I made my way through the village that rested below Terror Mountain. A few shops here, kids playing in the snow there... I started my hunt. Every alley, every house, every THING. Still no sign. But I wasn't ready for my trip up the mountain just yet.

It's been six years that I lived in the village. I made a nice income working at the slushie shop and I had a cheap apartment so I could save money for the house. I still haven't had the courage to travel up the mountain. I don't know when I will, or if I will, but the thought of seeing Jenna again scares me more then it should. You'd think I'd be happy to see her, but I don't even know if she's still alive. She could be living in the house on the mountain right now for all I know but I can't find the courage to leave. I picked up the tattered rainbow lupe plushie. It's fabric was old, slowly tearing in various places along with the seams that help the thing stay together. It had patches of missing fur on it's tail, with was the only place it actually had fur. I turned it to look on it's belly. "Jenna." It was badly written down it's side with a purple marker. My long, starry ears lowered.

So much for a gift.


	2. Chapter 2

I stretched my weary, starry body. Another day of work, but that really means another day of pay. I lived here for 6 years in this small apartment. It literally only had a room, kitchen, and bathroom. But I only live here for myself. One day, I'll be living at the top of Terror Mountain, with my lost friend Jenna. And then I can finally give her the rainbow lupe for the day of giving. But I can't until I finally dig up the courage to travel to the top and see if she's actually THERE. I pulled the blanket off me, grabbed the stolen ski jacket off the rack, and started off to the slushie shop.

I live in Happy Valley, working in the Slushie Shop. It's a nice job, just filling up of frozen drink into a cup and making neopians pay 500 neopoints for a normal flavor. 1,000 for a special one, but those weren't that good. Personally my favorite is a Green Apple slushie, only because I know they use real apples to make it. None of that synthetic stuff.

I walked into the store and took off my jacket. When I started to pull on the apron, my coworker Tana yelled "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" She threw the cupcake at my face and started singing the birthday song louder than a Wherlupe's howl. All the customer's laughed and sang along as I scowled at the girl. Don't think for a second I hate her, she's a wonderful brown Kyrii, very beautiful too, but she's more of a younger sister than anything.

"JOEY!"

"What Tana." Monotone as ever.

"IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!"

"Really now."

"Hehe, YEAH!" She started to clean the cupcake off me. "How old are you now?"

"16? I don't know, birthdays don't really matter to me much."

She tilted her head. "Why not?"

"'Cause you know only one thing is on my mind, Tana. Finding-"

"Jenna, I know. But for all YOU know, she could be at the top of the mountain, waiting for YOU!" She told me this all the time. No one, or even myself, really understood why I'm too chicken to go up there. But I just can't. I don't have the courage. "But whatever. Waste all you time on Neopia, sure." Tana tugged on my ear. "Just don't regret it!" She then tapped my head and went to the back to fish out some more straws.

_Just work through today._ I told myself. All I can think about now is my bank account. The money is almost enough to buy a house. I've saved up for 6 years, and now its finally about to pay off. IF I can go to the mountain.

The next couple of hours were a blur. I wasn't really paying attention to the customers, just giving them a slushie and putting money in a register. Tana was cleaning the store by the time 5 o'clock rolled in. 30 more minutes and I can take my break. I stared at the counter, trying to get off a mess some child made earlier when the next customer walked in. It was a girl, I could tell by her voice. But I was busy cleaning this mess. When she asked for a Green Apple slushie, I still never looked at her. I filled up the cup when she said, "It's my old friend Joey's birthday. I always celebrate it by getting his favorite treat."

"Hah, that's weird, my name's Joey and I LOVE Green Apple slushies."

"I know."

I finally looked at the girl as I held out the slushie. It fell to the counter and made a big mess. My starry fur stood on end and my eyes grew 2 times bigger. "J...Je..."

"Hi Joey." She smiled at me and waved nervously.

"Jenna! You're-you're-" I couldn't stop studdering. She was as beautiful as the first day I saw her. Clean red fur, short hair, and a ratty 3 colored scarf. I found her. I jumped over the counter and hugged her, probably too tight. But she wrapped her arms around me and we just stood there, in each other's arms. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." She finally broke the embrace and looked at me. "Joey, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For leaving. It was so rude of me and I'm so sorry. I just HAD to get out of there. Allie, she, she was so mean to me. I could hardly find food. And any food you gave me made me feel so bad, I couldn't eat it at times. I-I never meant to hurt you or a-anythi-ing, I-" She started to cry. "I am SO sorry, Joey." She put her head into her hands and started to sob.

"Woah, Jenna, it's okay. I could never be mad at you." I took her head out of her hands and put my arms around her again. "You're my best friend. I love you the same as I did the day you left. I just, I just kinda wished you would have TOLD me you were leaving. I've been looking for you for years."

"Joey, I told you years ago, I wanted to live at the top of Terror Mountain. I've been there this entire time. Well, not at the top, but close-"

I sorta stopped listening. Tana poked her head through my peripheral vision and started to giggle. She was right. The girl had been at the place that I never looked at. "What."

"What?"

"You've-I-I-can't-Believe-Looked-Years-WHAT?" Tana full out laughed now. Jenna was completely confused at this point. She looked at Tana, then me, then back at Tana. "YOU'VE BEEN THERE THIS WHOLE TIME?"

"Um." She giggled a bit. "Yes?"

"OH MY GO-" Tana punched my gut.

"You're so stupid! I told you, I told you," she sang. Jenna started to laugh as I stood there, dumbfounded.

A couple minutes later (once I calmed down) I cleaned up the slushie mess while catching up with Jenna. She moved to Terror Mountain a year after she left and has been working for the Toy Repair shop. She never had a boyfriend, but made a couple of friends up there. The shop must have been good money because of the good clothes she had on, but still wore her old scarf. "I thought about you everyday, Joey. You were really my only friend back then."

"Yeah. You were my only true friend there too." I looked at the clock, and saw that I was about to get off in a couple minutes. "Well, we should catch up more. Wanna come to my place?"

"Um, I guess I could. I just have to make up some excuse for not going back to work, heh." I clocked out and started to go home with her. The walk was long, but felt short because of their reminiscing. He opened the door to his one room apartment for her and sat on his bed.

"Small place, I know. But it's cheap."

She strode around the place, "Saving up for something?"

"Yeah, actually." Jenna sat down next to him. "The house at the top of the mountain."


End file.
